Today's adventure is a day trip to the small island of Lana'i which is just off the coast of Maui. We took the ferry for the 45 minute trip.
Edel has a nice seat in the outdoor area. Notice the bench seats that are up against the indoor seating area. I discovered that if you want to have access to the railing for good photos, these are the seats to have. I don't like to ride backwards, but at least there is a good reason for it. If you sit in the regular seats, you have to fight your way to a railing since everyone wants to stand and look for whales.
We caught the ferry in the old whaling city of Lahaina. This photo is just leaving the dock at Lahaina.
We saw one whale after another during the middle half of the trip.
As you come closer to Lana'i, it looks very desolate and uninhabited. For the most part that is true. Lana'i was once one big Dole pineapple field but economics have turned it into a tourist island with several golf resorts. There is only one town on the island, Lana'i City. It has a population of about 1,500. The city is located at about 1,300 ft above sea level so it is fairly cool there with a nice breeze. The entire island is privately owned by one person.
Landing at Lana'i.
Lana'i City has a large park at it's center. The park is ringed with small businesses and restaurants. All the single family homes on the island are in the city. There is one small grocery store on the island but the residents have to take the ferry to Lahaina to do any serious shopping. There is one all grade level school and one limited hospital. Expecting mothers have to go to Oahu for deliveries.
Cuba has always been known for keeping its old American cars running. It must be an island thing.
On a recommendation from a local, we had lunch at the Blue Ginger Cafe.
The special was fabulous. A combination platter with Mahimahi, chicken finger, garlic shrimp, rice, and a great macaroni/tuna salad.
The community park. The fir trees are amazingly tall and straight. They are a different breed than what you usually see on the main land.
A closer look at the branches.
The Performing Arts Building/movie theater. A remastered version of "Gone With The Wind" was playing.
Flower are everywhere in Hawaii and we took pictures of most of them.
The old Lana'i City Hotel is still in business and probably a nice place to stay.
The ferry returns to pick us up after lunch.
We grabbed the bench seats so we would have good access to the railing to photograph whales. It seemed like a good idea. The ride back to Lahaina was a little different than the one over to Lana'i. All the people that you see in this photo will be drenched an about 15 minutes.
The farther out into open water we got, the worst the swells got. At their worst, they were 6 ft. That is a lot for a little ferry like ours. I don't have photos of the bad stuff because I had to put the camera away to protect it from the sea water. Now the bench seats were looking like a bad idea. There was nothing to hold onto as the boat pitched up and down. We were weightless many times. When the boat crashed down into the bottom of the swell, our backs were slammed against the boat's cabin. Water spray literally washed over the top and sides of the ferry and soaked everyone sitting outside. The ship's crew warned us it would be wet, but no one took the warnings seriously. It was a rough ride for all three of us and we were exhausted at the end. We weren't looking for whales on the way back.....we were hanging on for our lives.
The old Pioneer Hotel in Lahaina
The old court house/jail.
A little fruit for dinner. 
Sugar Cane. The island of Maui is one big sugar cane field in the flat land between the volcanoes. There is a sugar refining plant still operating on the island.
Hawaii wouldn't be complete without a rainbow.
On the beach south of Makena waiting for the sunset.
Way off in the distance we could see large whales completely breaching the water. If you look closely, you can see one on the horizon in the photo. I needed a larger telephoto lens for this shot.
After sunset, we had fish & chips in Kihei on the way back to the condo. The fish used was Ono and it was great.
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